Egypt: thousands protest against decision to allow former Mubarak PM to run for president

Thousands of protesters marched in the Egyptian city of Alexandria on Friday,
protesting a court ruling allowing Hosni Mubarak's former prime minister to
run for president.

3:33PM BST 15 Jun 2012

Ahmed Shafiq, who was Mr Mubarak's last prime minister, is set to face the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Morsi in a presidential run-off on Saturday and Sunday.

Judges appointed by Mr Mubarak dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament on Thursday and ruled his former prime minister eligible for the presidential run-off election this weekend – setting the stage for the military and remnants of the old regime to stay in power.

Thousands of people turned out for a major protest in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Friday.

One man said Egypt's highest court had not considered "the will of the people or the revolution".

He said he was planning to vote for Mr Morsi, despite disagreeing with him, "in an attempt to save the revolution and for it to continue, because unfortunately the Supreme Council of Armed Forces has slapped the people and we will go to the polling stations to slap them back."

The decision by the Supreme Constitutional Court effectively erased the tenuous progress from Egypt's troubled transition in the past year, leaving the country with no parliament and concentrating power even more firmly in the hands of the generals who took over from Mubarak.